The Government is being ‘wilfully blind’ to the impact of tribunal fees claims the Law Society

‘Oppressive’ tribunal fees must be removed to ensure that justice is available for those who need it. That’s the opinion of the Law Society, in response to the Ministry of Justice’s review of the impact of tribunal fees.

Speaking in response to the Ministry of Justice review, Law Society president, Robert Bourns, said that although an estimated 14,000 people per year have unsuccessfully attempted conciliation for their employment dispute since the changes were introduced; the majority had been unable to escalate matters and take their cases to tribunal because of the high fees:

‘In the face of plummeting numbers of cases going to the tribunal, falling settlement rates, and thousands of people saying they could not take their cases to the tribunal due to high fees, only by being wilfully blind can the government claim there is “no evidence” that fees are stopping people enforcing their rights.’

Although justice minister Sir Oliver Heald had claimed the current system was ‘generally working effectively and was operating lawfully’, he stated that the ministry will now look at consulting on proposals to extend support to people on low incomes. Under the proposals people over 25 earning up to £1,250 [up from £1,085] a month (gross) would be exempt from fees. Other proposals included granting additional allowances for people living as couples and those with children, and remitting fees for certain proceedings related to payments made from the National Insurance Fund.

Yet, despite these concessions, Mr Bourns believes the government is still not doing enough to redress the imbalance created by the imposition of fee:

‘The solutions the government now proposes are little more than tinkering around the edges, which can never address the tens of thousands of individual workers effectively barred by these fees from asserting their rights.’

‘If the government is genuine about workers being able to defend their rights at work it must restore access to the employment tribunal. This means removing oppressive fees to ensure that justice is upheld for those who need it,’ he added.